“He gets the team's attention. … You can reinforce him or you can rotate him.”

Ahead of Tuesday's game against St. Louis, Sheldon Keefe discussed the state of his injured players, adjusting to the loss of Morgan Rielly during his suspension and the call-up against the Blues.

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What's the latest news on the injured and sick player pool?

Kif: Conor Timmins has mono and will be out indefinitely depending on how he goes in the coming days or weeks.

Mark Giordano and David Kampf will play tonight and are ready to go.

Martin Jones was injured yesterday. Dennis Hildeby is coming tonight to support.

Did you give up on whatever happened with Morgan Rielly's audition?

Kif: I can't do that. Game day. The process takes care of itself and we are concerned with the result.

Do you think this will be a big moment for the team?

Kif: It's not typical of this situation (with Riely), I think any time something like that happens — injury or otherwise — it's going to get the team's attention. You can galvanize or rally around it.

In my time here, the team has done this very well. Last season we had a few injuries on defense and the guys came in and did a good job. Everyone around them played well. It was one of the best periods of the season at a time when it could have been very bad. The team tried to find their way.

We had injuries in defense already this season. We weren't sure about our depth on defense. The guys came in and did a really good job for us. If you look at a case like Benoit's, he didn't give it up.

In some of these situations, wonderful things can happen. Max Domi had his best game as a Leaf with the loss of Auston Matthews. Whether it's the Morgan situation or the other injuries we have — and we have at least one more game-time solution tonight — this is an opportunity for this team to get around it and get better.

What makes players succeed when they spend more minutes in these moments?

Kif: It is a combination of things.

The first is to not try to do too much or feel that the responsibility is greater than anything you can do. It's more about getting out there and playing.

Sometimes, for some players, this works out well because you think less. You have to go. You don't have time to get into your head. If you make a mistake, you can go right back.

Sometimes these situations happen and when there is no other choice but to rely on others, it can benefit the guys. In some cases, too, guys are excited to get out there and show what they can do. Everyone is always looking for more opportunities, whether they are good or not. Guys want to play, they want to play a lot.

And here we are. I'm glad the team came out and responded.

With his ability to play in a variety of positions and positions, will Pontus Holmberg be your Swiss Army Knife when there's a lot of movement in the lineup?

Kif: That's what happened. However, the Swedish army knife. He is a versatile guy.

With his skill and intelligence, he exudes confidence that he can do it. When it was with us last year, we used it mainly as a hub. We've used him on the wing a few times this season. We wanted to see that.

He moved around the whole line. Some of it depends on the situation. We think some of this has to do with his skills and how he fits in with others trying to give him more experience.

He did a great job for us. I'm familiar with him, but we have new coaches on our staff. In terms of management, he was new to Tre, who would see him every day. He is gaining trust and respect day by day.

Have you considered going on the power play with five forwards in Rielly's absence?

Kif: We talked about it. This is still an option for us.

Honestly, that's typical of how St.Louis' penalty kill is and how we think we should play against them. They hurt the PKK a lot, so it's something to be aware of. Given some nuances in the area, we think it's better for the strikers to be in their natural positions.

McCabe is more like Rielly as the lefty of that group. It came down to a matter of craft for us. We debated Liljegren or McCabe, but for today's game and this opponent, we're going with the traditional approach.

What is the biggest challenge against St. Louis?

Kif: I would say their offense and transition. Their best guys are Thomas and Kyrou, and Kyrou is at the top of the league. He is very skilled and very dangerous. If you make a mistake or fall asleep a little, it will hurt you.

There are a lot of similarities to Ottawa, the type of game they play and the type of offense they can run against. Obviously, they have a lot of confidence and have been winning a lot of games lately. This is a dangerous group.

They have a lot of veterans on defense who know how to play and have some depth on offense as well as veteran experience and a lot of young talent.

They are right up there with the best offensive teams in the league.

Do you know head coach Drew Bannister? He passed through the water.

Kif: I know Drew. I was thrilled to see him get his chance. He followed me to Sault Ste. Marie. We talked quite a bit through that transition. He had a lot of success there, then moved on to the American League and made his own way.

The team is growing under him. She was excited for him.